Currency notes found at Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi's seat in Rajya Sabha: What we know so far

NEW DELHI: Chaos erupted in Rajya Sabha on Friday after chairman Jagdeep Dhankar announced that "wad of currency notes" were found from a seat allotted to Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi during checks in Rajya Sabha.
"I here by inform the members that during the routine anti-sabotage check of the chamber after the adjournment of the House yesterday. Apparently, a wad of currency notes was recovered by the security officials from seat number 222 which is presently allotted to Abhishek Manu Singhvi, elected from the state of Telangana..The matter was brought to my notice, and I made sure an investigation takes place and the same is underway," Dhankar said.

Abhishek Singhvi responds to the charge
Congress leader Singhvi responded to the charge, stating he carries only one Rs 500 note to Rajya Sabha and was hearing about this incident for the first time.
"Heard of it first time now. Never heard of it till now! I carry one 500 rs note when I go to RS. First time heard of it. I reached inside house at 1257 pm yday and house rose at 1 pm; then I sat in canteen till 130 pm with Sh Ayodhya Rami Reddy then I left parliament!" Singhvi said in a post on X.
Kharge's request to Dhankar
Meanwhile, Kharge urged the chair to not name the MP in Parliament until the investigation is completed.
"I request that until the investigation is done and the authenticity of the incident is established, a member should not be named," Kharge said.
BJP objects to Kharge's demand
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju objected to Kharge's request and demanded a "serious investigation" into the matter.
"As per the routine protocol, the anti-sabotage team checked the seats just to wind up the proceedings and the house. During that procedure, the note was found and the seat numbers were deciphered and the members also signed that day. I don't understand why there should be an objection that the Chair should not take the name of the member. The Chairman has rightly pointed out the seat number and the member who occupies that particular seat number. What is wrong with that? Why there should be an objection?" Rijiju asked.
"Don't you think that while we are going towards digital India, carrying a bundle of notes in the House is appropriate? We don't carry note bundles in the house. I fully agree with the observation of the Chairman that there must be a serious investigation and the concerns raised by the members are also very genuine," he added.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday called the recovery of currency notes on a seat allotted to senior leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha a "diversionary tactic" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to derail critical parliamentary discussions.
"This is a diversionary tactic to distract from the issues we are raising. We have raised the farmers' issue, and the Chairman (of Rajya Sabha) himself has raised that issue. There are many other issues too, like the 'Modani' (Modi-Adani) scandal which we want to have a debate on. So to distract from all of that, they have pulled up new issues," Ramesh told ANI.
Additionally, the Congress party sources also believed that currency notes recovered from the bench of party leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was a "ploy to distract attention" from the Adani issue.
"If somebody is carrying Rs 50,000 in the pocket is not a crime. Congress leaders have met with Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhakhar and have requested to conduct an investigation into the matter by any agency or even form a JPC in it," the party sources said.